332 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



General effect when in the water white ; upper parts varied with 

 black; icing black, with white patch. Im. — Similar to winter ad.y 

 but wing-patch barred with black ; lower parts washed with dusky. 

 Nest, in crevices in rocks. Eggs, green, greenish-white, or 

 white. 



The Sea Pigeon breeds on rocky islands along the coast 

 of Maine, from Knox County eastward ; there is a consid- 

 erable colony on Little 

 Duck Island, off Mt. De- 

 sert. In fall and winter it 

 is met with along the 

 whole of the Maine coast, 

 and less commonly as far 

 south as Wood's Hole, 

 Mass. It feeds in the 

 broad sheltered bays 

 formed by the numerous 

 islands along the Maine 

 coast, riding easily on the 

 water, and either diving 

 when alarmed, or rising 

 and flapping ofi" with a 

 peculiar paddling effect of 

 the wings. 



It may be recognized in 

 summer by its general black color, and by the broad patch 

 of white in the black wing. In winter the general effect 

 of the bird is white, the black bill showing clearly against 

 the white head. Its wing, however, is still black with a 

 patch of white. The Horned Grebe also has a white 

 patch in the wing, but it does not show till the bird flies, 

 whereas in the Sea Pigeon it is conspicuous as the bird sits 

 in the water. The White-winged Coot and the Merganser, 

 which also show white in the wing, are both much larger 

 birds. 



Fig. 94. Black Guillemot 



